President Donald Trump stood by controversial remarks he made earlier this week, telling Fox News that he was making the right call by setting aside concerns about Americans' financial hardship while pursuing negotiations to end the conflict with Iran.
In an interview taped Friday during his visit to China, Trump called his Tuesday statement "a perfect statement" and said he would repeat it without hesitation. When asked about comments in which he told reporters he wasn't thinking about Americans' finances "even a little bit" as he worked to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, Trump offered no apology or retreat.
"The only thing that matters, when I'm talking about Iran, they can't have a nuclear weapon," Trump said. "I don't think about Americans' financial situation, I don't think about anybody. I think about one thing: You cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon."
The president acknowledged that his Iran strategy would carry a price tag for ordinary Americans in the near term. Gas prices have climbed to more than $4.50 per gallon on average since the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran in late February, a 50 percent increase according to AAA data. The blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial shipping passage for global oil supplies, has been the primary driver of higher energy costs.
Trump said he was comfortable with this outcome. "When you tell somebody you're going to pay a little more for gasoline for a very short period of time because we want to stop the threat of being blown to pieces by a lunatic, by a crazy person using nuclear weapons, everybody says that's fine," he said, dismissing the original question that prompted his Tuesday remarks as "fake."
The president predicted relief ahead. He said oil tankers currently loaded with supplies are waiting to move once the strait reopens and the Iran conflict ends, which he expects to happen quickly. "Don't forget, they have a lot of boats that are loaded up with oil that are going to bring the oil out as soon as this is over, and I think it's going to end fast," Trump said.
The remarks have created political headaches as Republicans head into November's midterm elections with narrow majorities in both chambers. Democrats seized on Trump's comments, while some GOP lawmakers moved to defend the president's position. With approval ratings dipping and gas prices pinching voters' wallets, the party faces questions about how the Iran strategy will affect electoral prospects.
Trump dismissed concerns that he was letting the midterms shape his foreign policy in reverse. "I'm not going to let the election determine what's going to happen with respect to Iran, because they cannot have a nuclear weapon," he said, insisting that nuclear nonproliferation is his singular driving force.
Author Sarah Mitchell: "Trump's willingness to double down on dismissing economic pain suggests he believes the nuclear threat justifies the cost, but voters in November may have a different equation in mind."
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